Each aircraft comprises a system for detecting failures BITE (built-in test equipment) to detect and isolate any failing equipment. Furthermore, the critical flight controls are monitored by a monitoring system FWS (flight warning system) which signals any failure or anomaly to the crew. The alert transmitted before the flight by the FWS indicates the impact of an event on serviceability of the aircraft allowing the crew to determine the service status of the aircraft.
The data transmitted by the BITE and FWS systems are acquired and processed by the centralized supervision system CMS (central maintenance system) of the various components of the aircraft.
The functions of the centralized supervision system CMS are hosted on two identical computers. The CMS aggregates and processes data on anomalies from a chain of different components in order to generate the diagnosis of the anomaly.
The results of the various diagnostics performed by the CMS are saved in an embedded database and are also displayed on an onboard interface via control and display units MCDU (multipurpose control and display units).
Furthermore, alert or anomaly messages are transmitted to the ground stations via a message system called ACARS (aircraft communication addressing and reporting system) to be processed in the case of obvious anomalies and, otherwise, to be archived in databases. These messages are transmitted to the ground in the form of reports during the flight CFR (current flight report) or at the end of flight PFR (post flight report).
The monitoring system CMS thus supplies information useful to maintenance and to the pilots to know whether an aircraft can be used in total safety or if the aircraft must be blocked in order to perform maintenance before placing it in service.
This monitoring system is very effective and provides a maximum level of safety to the aircraft. However, in some cases, pilots may be taken short by an unexpected failure alert before the flight that can lead to delays or even flight cancellations.
Moreover, the monitoring system is based on rules predefined in advance to detect the failures. However, there may be phenomena that are not currently suspected and which may possibly have an impact.
An object of the present disclosure is consequently to a method and a system for identifying precursors to all the phenomena which can have an impact on the serviceability of an aircraft thus making it possible to schedule the maintenance operations long in advance in order to avoid flight delay or cancellation problems.